Russet Aureate
by risokura
Summary: If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered. Implied BalthierVaan.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final Fantasy XII

Russet Aureate

_("If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered."_ – **Edgar Allen Poe**)

_Russet_

He was different, carrying an air of mystique about him that you were not accustomed to in your humdrum, menial desert life. Rushing in, calling himself the leading man, he sought not to sweep you into the whirlwind that was his life. _But _you followed him, pestering and begging him all the way as you tried to understand just who—rather **what—**this man was. He never turned away from you, albeit a bit brash at times, you _listened _even if you never showed it. So you had a knack for being hard headed at times, it wasn't exactly a bad thing all the time. _He _was always two steps ahead of you, ready to fix your mistakes and push you down the right path (his path) again.

But you saw the change in him after some time. He started to regard you with more esteem than he had previously, he was learning to work around your faults and exploit your strengths.

And somehow, that _esteem _progressed down a road you'd never though you'd walk. He took you into a world you never knew, and as soon as you got to sample the delights with your greedy little thieving hands, you never wanted to stop. You kept plundering, convincing yourself that this was the _true _life of an air pirate. You were free to do whatever you want, Fate willing you never got caught. Except, you _did _get caught. And when you did, your pretty little flaxen haired child hood friend never let it go. Whenever she saw you with _him _she would merely smile and giggle at the two of you, going her merry was now that she knew your dirty little secret.

When he left to sacrifice himself on everyone's behalf, there was a part of you that merely wanted to go with him. Throw all caution to the wind and run after him for being so stupid (selfless). Yet, existing in the world that you did, you realized there is no such thing as what you had lasting forever (it was purely lust, never love, you thoroughly convinced yourself after some time). And you (told yourself) were _foolish _for thinking so.

_Aureate_

You were captivated by his song before you even heard him speak. His hair is of the purest gold, soft, feathered and untouched as if he were some celestial seraphim, capturing an unsuspecting hume in a superlative hymn. You saw he was a child from at the moment you met him, no matter how hard he tried to disprove the fact. He drove you nuts with the way that he could never think anything that he did through, and you always had to (in some way) clean up his messes. And yet, as you traveled you learned that he was in fact capable of taking care of himself no matter how inept he may have seemed.

You thought to give the boy a little taste of what your life was like. He was eager to please, and the minute you opened him to your world, he never seemed to leave.

He was always rushing forward for more, finding some way to establish himself firmly in your mind as something other than dead weight, even when you had begun to think differently about him. You realized that after some time, this would not go on long without your partner finding out. She never said a word of it to you unless you acted besides yourself. You steeled yourself for those moments, usually dancing around the daggers in her eyes to a more stable ground away from her. Those days were never pleasant, really.

Then it came time for your role as leading man (or so you claimed) to step in and you stayed behind while everyone else fled to safety. One swift thought crossed your head the minute you saw those baby blue skies rivaling your own and for a second, just a millisecond, you felt yourself hesitate. She surely felt it, but you don't know if he did. With a quick dismissal, you were well on your way to what you had to do. You had to leave, it was your job. The leading man always sacrifices himself for the greater good, yes. That's all you kept telling yourself so that you didn't feel anything for leaving him behind.

_fin_


End file.
